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Soundtrack
Over my time in writing this series, I have come across several tunes I think would be ideally suited to Dimensions, and they're far from your typical anime-style choices you might expect. Naturally, the vast majority won't appear in the series in text itself, both because it'd be a bit pointless and because they wouldn't fit that well, but I still felt fit to share with you these tunes. I expect to add more to fill the gaps as time goes on, and I'd be happy to hear any suggestions anyone has. I've also put some notes in as to why I chose these songs on some of them, and some of them are also hints to larger and future themes to come in the series. If you like the songs, I suggest you support the artists by purchasing them yourselves. You never know, you might become open to a whole new genre of music, be it the realm of British rock, pop, roll and alternative, or just good ol' American rock. In any case, enjoy! Oh, and, if you haven't read up to the latest point in the series yet, I suggest you hold off on reading below. Some of the themes may act as spoilers for you. If you want to look up the lyrics, I suggest using LyricWiki. Also, I reserve the right to change these if I find something better suited. Book Themes Main Theme Parallel Universe by Red Hot Chili Peppers If there's anything which defines this series, this song at least comes close. The rolling and progressing nature of it, mixed in with the roaring nature of the chorus, is pretty similar to how this series rolls. The title on its own relates to the name of the series, and will become even more relevant as this series heads towards its later books. The reflection on how, "deep inside of a parallel universe, it is getting harder and harder to tell what came first", reflects both on the situation of Rey and of you, the readers, trying to understand this complex universe going on. It also concerns a certain other character very well too... "You could die but you're never dead" refers, of course, to Ryder's unique situation, and the idea of a "spider web" relates both to the complexity of their universe and to that of their social interactions. There's also a few other meanings to the lyrics, but unfortunately by revealing them I would be spoiling far too much. Still, enjoy trying to second-guess me using it. Book One: Links Here It Goes Again by OK Go Ah the treadmill song (watch the video). A lovely upbeat theme to bring us into the series, and one which compares well to the darker tones later on. For starters, it's pretty obvious that by "here it goes again", I'm referring to how this is where I pick up the plotline, taking it from the Tamer roots to the exposing of something far larger and unknown underneath. Takato's discovery at the beginning of this book ties in well with "and you leave me with my jaw on the floor", and the arrival of a certain seemingly immoral joker coincides with "Oh, just when you think you're in control". Finally, "a break in the monotony" is a fairly apt description of how the events of this book change their lives once again. Book Two: Powers Throw Away Your Television by Red Hot Chili Peppers Well, for Takato and the other Tamers, this is the point where they really need to throw away their television, the point where it becomes unnecessary to watch certain people on television, because, well, they're real. XD It's also the point where it stops being a repeat "getting old" and it becomes new for the Digidestined. Oh, and "renegades with fancy gauges" is a lovely if odd way to refer to everyone's favourite time travelling redhead. Book Three: Evils It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M. Book Four: Gods Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance Book Five: Demons Stop Me by Mark Ronson Book Six: Tricks The Trick To Life by The Hoosiers Book Seven: Escapes w.a.m.s. by Fall Out Boy Book Eight: Parallels Thnks fr the Mmrs by Fall Out Boy Book Nine: Sorrows Closer by Joshua Radin "I" in this is Ryder. Take from that what you will. Book Ten: Darkness Cemeteries of London by Coldplay A very dark theme this time round, and one for which the meaning will become apparent in time. Book Eleven: Threats Monster by The Automatic Book Twelve: Truths Toxicity by System of a Down Book Thirteen: Realities What I've Done by Linkin Park Book Fourteen: Ends Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol Single Character Themes Takato Matsuki The Biggest Dreamer by Koji Wada Okay, so I lied about the whole 'things other than typical anime songs'. This song is just perfect for him. Rika Nonaka I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers by Fall Out Boy Rey Matsuki Worried About Ray by The Hoosiers Ryder Stevens Viva La Vida by Coldplay Mari Flynn Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon Ivy Winters Headfirst Slide Into Coopestown on a Bad Bet by Fall Out Boy (previously:) Devil May Care by SAL (both video and music track are free to download from the artist at the time of writing) Can't find any official lyrics anywhere for this so here's my best efforts to transliterate: Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaa! Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaa! Moving softly, Arms around me, Take me to the place I want to go Close your eyes and Believe my lies Take from everything to have it all You feel it You breathe it And one day you'll believe it You never seen the face before Devil may care Say my name Play my game And one day you'll go insane You never seen the face before Devil may care Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaa! It's hard to breathe Down on my knees Fight against the waves that keep me down Chasing your ghosts Loving you most Screaming till I feel my heart explode You try to run away I'll track you down There's no way you can escape me You feel it You breathe it And one day you'll believe it You never seen the face before Devil may care Say my name Play my game And one day you'll go insane You never seen the face before Devil May Care Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaa! Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaa! Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaa! Wooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! You feel it You breathe it And one day you'll believe it You never seen the face before Devil may care Say my name Play my game And one day you'll go insane You never seen in the face before Devil may care Henry Wong All My Best Friends Are Metalheads by Less Than Jake Jeri Katou Tai Kamiya Beat It by Fall Out boy Sora Takenouchi Matt Ishida Joe Kido Mimi Tachikawa Izzy Izumi Davis Motomiya Fame < Infamy by Fall Out Boy Kari Kamiya She's A Handsome Woman by Panic At The Disco Takeru Takashi Mr Brightside by The Killers Cody Hida Yolei Inoue Ken Ichijouji Kristy Nonaka Suzie Wong Kazu Shioda Do What You Want by OK Go Kenta Kitagawa Ryo Akiyama Who Am I? by 38th Parallel This song truly has a lot of meaning really... and all those means relate to Ryo pretty well. The part on "Made like a mirror to reflect his glory" demonstrates how Ryo is somewhat a reflection of Millenniummon's power and Millenniummon himself (in a really sick sort of way that I am not going to go into). Also, the reference to mirror is really ironic, seeing how Ryo is the opposite of Millenniummon in more ways than one, so it is kinda like looking at a reflection of your opposite self. "But the glass got smashed" refers to how Ryo sought his own destiny and managed to break the endless cycle of fighting that he and Millenniummon are destined to continue. "Bought a counterfeit story" refers to how Ryo chose to create a new life in the Tamer's world rather than returning to his original world, thus creating a life that is 'counterfeit' somewhat as he truly does not belong in that world... kinda like how Ryder is in a world he isn't supposed to be in as well. (Hey, doesn't that mean that Ryder's leading a counterfeit life too?) "We gave into pride" is pretty clear. Ryo got, like Rika would say, too much air in his head. "On that day we died inside" states how Ryo really died on the inside when the other Digidestined betrayed him by bluffing him about the D-1 Tournament. "We ignited a rebellion" is true in more ways that one would like to think. This is one bit I would leave the readers to guess about. The part on, "An infectious disease that labels us felons" is really obvious. Cyberdramon is the disease... one can guess the rest. "Cold and alone"... that doesn't really strike anyone as the cocky Ryo Akiyama we know right? Well, wrong. Inside, Ryo is truly 'cold and alone', as he has no one to truly call his friend. Due to his need to have to restrain Cyberdramon, he does not have the time to socialise and really get to know his friends. Also, due to the Digidestined's betrayal, he is hesitant to do so as well, and thus uses Cyberdramon as an excuse to not socialise, thus always leaving a barrier between him and all the others. They are allies, they fight together, but they are not truly friends to him (unconsciously of course). Which is why he is "ever wandering in search of a home". After all, his true home is already long gone. And since he chooses not to socialise, Ryo doesn't really have anyone other than Cyberdramon, who can't really be considered a friend except while he is Monodramon. And since he is always alternating between the Real and Digital Worlds, he never settles down. "Hearts breaking and shaking" refers to how Ryo's heart is always breaking half the time. During his adventures against Millenniummon, he had lost more friends than anyone else... in this whole series. Not only the friends that had died to save him, but also the friends that he considers lost, namely the Digidestined. "In time with our hearts vibrating" refers to how frequent this happens to him. Poor Ryo, huh? It's obvious with "We say bridges to yesterday are burned", referring to how the roads to the past are now barricaded. After all, Ryo is a time traveller. He knows the ups and downs of time travelling and all its rules (Yes, Rey is not the only one who knows... actually, I don't think she even knows the rules of time, only the basics). So, this actually refers to how his time travelling and dimension hopping days are over. "Seasons over, all those leaves have turned" just shows how much time has passed since all his adventures with Millenniummon. "But we cannot look now" refers to how Ryo is unable to look back at the past as it is too painful and how he cannot look into the future, as there is no future for someone like him (after all, all he does is try and restrain Cyberdramon. That's all). "We can only keep our gaze locked on the ground" emphasizes on how Ryo cannot look anywhere but. He cannot look forward, he cannot look backward. Well, you get the rest. "And here we stand with wide eyes, as our world comes crashing down" is truly ironic. Ryo's world has already crashed down. But who's to say that it wasn't going to happen again? "Who am I to say right?, Who am I to say you're wrong?" references how Ryo's sense of right and wrong was inverted in the past, resulting in dire consequences. But who's to say it isn't going to happen yet again... again? "Play judge, look you in the eye, Who am I to throw the stones" is clear cut. Ryo doubts in his ability to judge anyone at all. After all, he deems that Tai, Matt and Izzy to be 'betrayers' (yet again, unconsciously of course. He would never consciously think this) while he knows that they are actually 'betraying' him for his own good. For everyone's own good. He knows that, and yet he still doubts them. Thus, he doesn't trust his ability to judge anyone anymore. "I remember when trust went for free, Sold for a smile on the face of a fantasy"... Do I really need to explain this? Ryo used to trust anyone freely, and now he doesn't. "Now trust is a costly commodity, Giving it away is the mark of absurdity " adds even more emphasis to that. "Truth found her home in the pages of fairy tales, Decadent words formed the phrases for dreams that failed....And truth is a homeless traveler, Hoping in the night to be found" refers to something in the future that only B.C. would know... more or less. They are all seeking the truth, the truth of the whys and the whats, the truth of why Ryder is in their world, the truth of the Angels, the truth of everything really. It also refers to the situation of readers, of how people like you (yes, I'm talking to you, the person who's reading this) are really seeking the truth as well. "And we wave goodbye to our innocence, And we wave goodbye to our ignorance, And we wave goodbye to our nursery mindsets, Abandoning cribs of complacence" refers to how Ryo had long ago waved goodbye to his innocence (bye), ignorance and 'nursery mindsets' (gross). He is no longer complacent as well. But it also refers to how Ryo would love to be innocent again, ignorant again, to return everything to a nursery mindset, simple and easy to solve, and not the complicated life he now leads. Ai and Mako Terada Sakura Yuuna Kohaku Souta Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends by Fall Out Boy DC Chop Suey by System of a Down Taiki Araki Killer by The Hoosiers Chiyo Suzume A Million Ways by OK Go Rayleigh Thompson Zach Strafer It Doesn't Matter by Tony Harnell It fits, because Zach tries to look on the bright side of the situation, no matter the time or place. HE WILL NEVER GIVE UP THE FIGHT!!!...Sorry. ~FB123 Asuka Kumiko Alice McCoy Coupling Themes Ryder and Mari Make This Go On Forever by Snow Patrol Ryder and Ivy The Other Side by Pendulum Shorter version with music video Rika and Takato Set The Fire To The Third Bar by Snow Patrol This song just has the feeling of an epic struggle, and the video fits perfectly as the man tries desperately to see the woman on the other side of the mirror (like Takato trying to see the real Rika), and she tries to reach him but can't do so. Martha Wainwright also really reminds me of Rika in the way she sings in this one. I find the map and draw a straight line Over rivers, farms and state lines The distance from A to where you'd B It's only finger lengths that I see Both Takato and Rika have an attitude that anything is possible, and hence the idea of a long distance from A to B being only finger lengths to them. I touch the place Where I'd find your face My fingers in creases Of distant dark places Again, they reach out to each other and find distant dark places, their previous lives and each of their flaws. I hang my coat up in the first bar There is no peace that I've found so far The laughter penetrates my silence As drunken men find flaws in science Neither have yet to find any true peace, and the laughter (of darkness perhaps) always penetrates any silence they find. Their words mostly noises Ghosts with just voices Your words in my memory Are like music to me Noises, music, memory, ghosts...all like Takato's dreams, Rika's singing, the sound of their lives around them. And miles from where you are I lay down on the cold ground and I I pray that something picks me up And sets me down in your warm arms How, particularly in Book Six, they feel so isolated from one another despite being so close at the same time, and they just want to transverse those "miles". After I have traveled so far We'd set the fire to the third bar We'd share each other like an island Until exhausted close our eyelids What would happen if they were completely open, and were allowed to be themselves, something they are unable to be because of fear. And dreaming pick up from The last place we left off Your soft skin is weeping A joy you can't keep in Dreaming, of course, needs no explanation. "The last place we left off" is a nice comparison with their previous incarnations, while the idea of soft skin not being able to keep joy in compares to how Rika has tried to hide her emotions when they're too deep.